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COLLUSION

Colbert on Giuliani: ‘Collusion’s a Crime, but It’s Just a Little Crime’

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Rudy Giuliani at a campaign stop

In wake of a bizarre series of interviews with President Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani, the new defense seems to be that “collusion” is not an illegal act. Stephen Colbert predicted this is just the beginning of a new strategy from the Trump team.

During his Monday show, Colbert began showing a clip of the CNN interview with Giuliani, in which the former New York mayor makes accusations against special counsel Robert Mueller and provides zero evidence. Giuliani claimed it was up to Mueller to refute the claim. Colbert then made his own wild accusation about Giuliani providing zero evidence.

“Yes, if someone starts a rumor about you, it’s ‘your responsibility’ to address that rumor,” Colbert concurred. “Like if I say Rudy Giuliani has sex with underage goats, it’s up to him to prove me wrong. Release the tapes of you not having sex with goats, Rudy!”

Colbert then led the audience in a chant of “release the tapes.”

After recapping the CNN interview, Colbert explained that Trump’s lawyer then crafted the “airtight” defense for there not being collusion with Russia.

“They are not going to be colluding about Russians, which I’m not even — I don’t know if that’s a crime, colluding about Russians,” the former prosecutor said.

“You’re his lawyer, you’re supposed to know what the law is,” Colbert mocked. “That’s like your doctor going: ‘I don’t even know if that’s a disease: bleeding from your eyeballs.’”

Giuliani then said that Trump didn’t pay for anyone to hack anything, which prompted Colbert to say he hopes Trump isn’t paying Giuliani to “lawyer” either.

“Besides, do we know he didn’t do the hack? Do we have a description of the hacker?” Colbert asked. He then played the clip of Trump talking about someone “sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds.”

“Wow, they are really moving the goalposts on this. First, it was ‘Russia didn’t interfere in the election.’ Then it was ‘OK, they did, but nobody on the Trump team met with them.’ Then it was, ‘OK, they did, but it was just about adoptions.’ Then it was ‘OK, they offered us dirt on Hillary, but there was no collusion.’ And now we’re at ‘Collusion is not a crime.’ What’s next? ‘OK, collusion’s a crime, but it’s just a little crime.’ and then it’ll be, ‘Since when are crimes illegal?’ Colbert joked.

Watch a segment of the opener below:

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COLLUSION

WATCH: The Mueller Report Star-Studded Live Stream Video

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So this happened. Eighteen of Hollywood’s biggest celebrities convened to bring The Mueller Report to the stage – and the star power behind the effort was mind-boggling.

The players included Annette Bening, Kevin Kline, John Lithgow, Frederick Weller, Ben McKenzie, Michael Shannon, Noah Emmerich, Justin Long, Jason Alexander, Gina Gershon, Wilson Cruz, Joel Grey, Alyssa Milano, Kyra Sedgwick, Alfre Woodard, Piper Perabo, Zachary Quinto, and Aidan Quinn.

The live reading, titled The Investigation: A Search for the Truth in Ten Acts, was written by Robert Schenkkan and presented by Law Works Monday night.

Now, without further ado: watch history unfold before your eyes.

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COLLUSION

‘I Was Happy to Do It for You’ GOP Congressman Who Threatened Michael Cohen Tells Trump: Report

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President Donald Trump reportedly called Rep. Matt Gaetz Wednesday night. Gaetz, the Florida Republican who very publicly threatened Michael Cohen, told President Trump he was “happy to do it for you,” according to a reporter for The Atlantic.

Gaetz, after a warning from Speaker Nancy Pelosi and massive outrage across the nation, apologized to Cohen for the threat, which many agree was designed to intimidate him just hours before his explosive testimony Wednesday before the House Oversight Committee.

The Atlantic’s Edward-Isaac Dovere posted this tweet Thursday morning:

Trump, who endorsed Gaetz, is believed to speak with him frequently.

Dovere adds to his reporting that Trump called Gaetz “as he headed into his meetings” with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un. Trump was in Hanoi to broker a denuclearization deal. Talks ended quickly and abruptly, and for the second time there is no deal.

Dovere’s report has not been confirmed by other news outlets.

Gaetz is now facing an investigation by the Florida Bar Association for the threat he made to Cohen. It’s possible the House Ethics Committee could also investigate, especially after Speaker Pelosi suggested they “vigilantly monitor” possible intimidation of witnesses by Members of Congress.

Former Obama Office of Government Ethics chief Walter Shaub weighed in on Dovere’s report that Trump had called Gaetz, suggesting the Florida Bar use that information as part of its investigation:

 

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COLLUSION

Trump Told a Reporter Off the Record Russia Was Falsely Accused of Interfering in US Election: Report

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The New York Times is reporting on President Donald Trump‘s five “mystery” meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In the wide-ranging and lengthy article, several odd and disturbing events stand out.

First, video of President Trump in July of 2017 at a G-20 dinner, the one where First Lady Melania Trump sat next to Putin and President Trump later went to speak with Putin without any U.S. officials present.

What was especially odd about that dinner was, aside from there is no record of what the two world leaders said to each other, this video that was not widely reported on.

Here’s how The Times describes it:

“Videotape later made public showed Mr. Trump pointing at Mr. Putin, who was seated across and down a long table, then pointing at himself and then making a pumping motion with his fist.”

Here is that video. It’s hard to make out and the quality is poor but President Trump can be seen in the lower left corner of the image:

Also disturbing is that President Trump, according to The Times, a day after that G-20 Summit, called a Times reporter and told them that Russia was wrongly accused of interfering in the U.S. election.

Again, direct from The Times:

“The day after the two meetings, as Mr. Trump was on Air Force One taking off from Germany heading back to Washington, he telephoned a Times reporter and argued that the Russians were falsely accused of election interference. While he insisted most of the conversation be off the record, he later repeated a few things in public in little-noticed asides.”

One more aspect of the Times article that has received the most attention.

President Trump “said that he raised the election hacking three times and that Mr. Putin denied involvement. But he said Mr. Putin also told him that ‘if we did, we wouldn’t have gotten caught because we’re professionals.’ Mr. Trump said: ‘I thought that was a good point because they are some of the best in the world’ at hacking.”

 

 

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